Apr 8 Should I Stay or Should I Go

Studies show that a third of Americans hate their jobs and are actively seeking other employment. Studies also show that one third of our time is spent working. So, when you consider those two numbers, that is a lot of time spent daily being unhappy with where you work. You are either someone who falls within those statistics or in the least you undoubtedly know someone who does. So, what do you do about it? Well, taking an inventory of why you feel the way you do about your job is imperative to your emotional and physical health. Stress is the number one cause of (insert almost any medical condition here).

Now, the questions are; why do you hate your job? Should you be looking elsewhere? There is a laundry list reasons why people might hate their jobs and look for other places to work, but the following are some of the top reasons:

1. Your boss – Who you work for and report to makes a huge difference in your emotional health in the office. People are naturally loyal to those they like and respect. However, if you do not have respect for your current boss, that just makes it easier to jump ship and seek to work somewhere else.

2. You coworkers – The team of people that you are forced to work with daily is also crucial. Most of the time, these are people that you may or may not have ever know if it had not been for the fact that you all report to the same person. And if you are lucky, then you happen to be put on a team of like-minded people, and you all care about each other outside of work. But this is not always the case.

3. Your salary – If you are one of the few that take a low paying job in the beginning hoping that the rewards will come later, you are rare. But when those rewards do not come, what do you do? You have gone above and beyond to prove yourself and that you deserve a substantial raise, but then are given what the average worker was given or nothing at all. You will feel undervalued and underappreciated.

4. Work load – Stress affect us in so many ways; emotionally, mentally and physically. When you are feeling over worked and you do not find healthy ways of dealing with it, your body decides how it is going to deal with the overwhelming discomfort. And that can affect you, and others around you. You may not be able to let that stress out at work, but it must come out somewhere; and often to those at home, and/or those close to us.

This list is just the begging of why people may hate their jobs. More and more people are switching companies these days. Years ago, it was normal to start working for a company right after college and retire there. That is not the case these days. The average person will work for a company a couple years before moving on. Years ago, that was frowned upon. Now-a-days it is the norm and even encouraged. Professionals today are taking advantage of the skills they gain at one job and taking those same skills on to another.

So, if you are part of the “third of Americans” that hate their job and your resume has several jobs listed on it over the past 15 years, do not be dismayed. You are in good company. And your job skill list is only going to assist you (if you’re wise) in your job search.

The real questions you need to ask yourself are: Why do you hate your job? What can you do about it? Should you stay? Or should you go? Only you know the true answer to those questions.